It seems
that no matter how ignorant of the Bible people are, there
is one verse that everyone knows. No, it’s not John 3:16.
Some people still don’t know that one. However, everyone
seems to know Matthew 7:1, wherein Jesus says, “Judge
not, that ye be not judged” (KJV). In fact, the less
of the Bible people know, the more they’re prone to know
and repeat this verse. If we had a nickel for every time
someone accused us of “intolerantly” violating this verse,
we could pay our server costs and possibly quit our day
jobs. But are these people right? When we cover false
religions and beliefs – when we even label a belief
as false – are we guilty of violating Jesus’ directive in
this verse? Or is there a greater context that is
missing?

If we’re going to speak of context, it’s
important to look at the entire passage from which the
verse is lifted. This is the way to perform proper
exegesis (getting out of a passage what the writer
intended) instead of engaging in eisegesis (forcing
one’s own preconceived notions into the text). My Bible
lists the first six verses of Matthew 7 together as part
of a common theme. Here is this fuller excerpt from
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:

“1Do
not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in
the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and
with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your
brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your
own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let
me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time
there is a plank in your own eye? 5You
hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your
brother's eye. 6"Do not give dogs what is
sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they
may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear
you to pieces.” (Matthew 7:1-6, NIV)

Two important points can be gleaned from this text. First, it is clear
that Jesus is addressing hypocrites – those who refuse to take
responsibility for their own faults before judging the faults of
others. This is not an all-encompassing command to never judge.
Rather, it is a command against hypocrisy. It is a directive to make
sure our own house is in order before we judge others. Not only is this
clear by the explicit text in verses 3 through 5, but it is supported by
the second noteworthy point – verse six calls on us to make judgments!
How are we to know whether we are giving dogs what is sacred, or
throwing pearls before pigs unless we’ve judged a) what constitutes
something sacred, and b) what constitutes the dogs and pigs described by
this verse? This verse is clearly symbolic. It is not about literal
dogs or pigs. This metaphorical language refers to those who will not
respect things that are sacred. In order to know who fits this bill, we
must make a judgment. The context of this passage clearly indicates
that we are not forbidden from passing judgment. Indeed, we are
required in this passage to make judgments. We simply must not do so if
we’re hiding from our own sins.

While simply putting this passage in context puts the lie to the
assertion that we are not to judge, I don’t want to stop here. I want
to look at the rest of the New Testament. After all, if Jesus opposed
people making judgments, then He and His Apostles who wrote the New
Testament would certainly not suggest otherwise. The message of
Scripture is cohesive. It is complementary rather than contradictory.
If Jesus did not think people should judge, then this message should
never be contradicted in the New Testament.

In John 7:24, we find Jesus talking again when he says, “Stop judging
by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” Notice that Jesus
didn’t stop speaking after his first two words. If He had, that would
have bolstered the contention that we shouldn’t judge. But Jesus
continues, and his entire sentence actually gives us some guidelines for
judging. He wouldn’t instruct us on how to judge if He didn’t
want us to judge! Jesus tells us something that we’ve often heard
in other forms – don’t judge by appearances. Growing up I remember
hearing, “don’t judge a book by its cover” and “appearances can be
deceiving.” Well, Jesus said it first. He tells us to not judge by
mere appearances, and make our judgments right. Some other translations
read “righteous judgment.” In other words, we should exercise caution
when judging that we pierce the cover of what things appear to
be, to make sure we’re judging what really is.

Some people are convinced that Jesus never judged others. These are
usually the same people that know nothing from the Bible beyond the
words “judge not”. Yet Jesus did not only tell us how to judge, He also
gave us a plethora of examples. Jesus’ first recorded words of His
ministry are “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew
4:17). How intolerant (by today’s standards) for Jesus to presume that
his audience was sinful and needed to repent! By this presumption, He
judged them as sinful and in need of repentance. In Matthew 5:22 (part
of the Sermon on the Mount), Jesus said, “But I tell you that anyone
who is angry with his brotherwill be subject to judgment.
Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the
Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the
fire of hell.” It doesn’t get much more judgmental than bringing up
H-E-double hockey sticks! If you continue in the Sermon on the Mount,
you’ll find several more instances of Jesus discussing sinful thoughts
and behaviors, proposing amputation as a preferable alternative to sin,
and then more references to hell. As we near the end of Jesus’ sermon,
we find some boldly judgmental statements that call for us to make
judgments: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and
broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a
few find it. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you
will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs
from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree
bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree
cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize
them. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom
of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you
evildoers!'” (Matthew 7:13-23). To those who don’t think judging is
the right thing to do, imagine if the words in this passage were ours
instead of Jesus’. I’d bet you’d be writing us a nasty-gram as fast as
you can type. Also, when Jesus warns us about false prophets, He is
indicating to us that we will need to judge whether someone is a false
prophet or whether they truly represent God. We can’t simply take
someone’s word for it. We must judge. The gospels are replete with
examples of Jesus being very judgmental. He calls people names, kicks
over tables, calls out evil and demands that we recognize it for what it
is. Read through from the beginning of Matthew to the end of John.
You’ll find these four books can be quite judgmental.

Moving beyond the gospels, we find the epistles to be just as
judgmental. 1 Corinthians 5 is a good example. In this letter to the
church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul excoriates the church members for
tolerating an immoral church member. Paul says that he has already
passed judgment (v. 3) and instructs the congregation to do the same.
In fact, he tells them to expel the immoral man and to stop associating
with him! In his next letter to the Corinthian church, Paul says, “Do
not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and
wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with
darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a
believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there
between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living
God” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16). Definitely judgmental!

One of our favorite passages defining
why Contender Ministries exists is Galatians 1:6-10 wherein Paul says, “I
am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you
by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is
really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into
confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we
or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we
preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already
said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other
than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Am I now trying
to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If
I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Paul not only judges those who spread a false gospel, but he also makes
it clear that we are to judge religious teachings to determine if they
are in line with the truth of Scripture or not. Paul goes so far as to
call the Galatians “foolish” (Galatians 3:1) for not exercising sound
judgment in matters of doctrine.

The Bible is our guide – our rulebook.
It gives us warnings to avoid false doctrines and be wary of false
prophets. In order to do so, we must make judgments. There’s no other
way to know right from wrong if we resist judging. Indeed, Paul makes
it clear that judging is part of the believer’s job description: “Do
you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to
judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you
not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this
life!” (1 Corinthians 6:2-3). The cohesive message of the New
Testament is that we are to make judgments, but we do so with love and
wisdom, and not hypocritically. Now that you’ve finished reading this
article, some of you will disagree and others will agree. And all of
you will have made a judgment in the process.What are your thoughts on this article?